If you love a good smoked brisket, then you will love his smaller cousin, smoked chuck roast. I have heard of others smoking different cuts of beef as an alternative to brisket, including chuck roast, and I had to give this a try. I love brisket, but it can be a large investment of time and money as well. Usually you are going to pay at least $30 and more likely $50 for a good brisket. I found this beautiful 2.5 lb chuck roast for $14. Quite the steal, considering the highly marbled beef that will render down into tender delicious brisket like morsels.

Picking out a Chuck Roast to Smoke

When choosing your chuck roast, look for piece that is very thick and highly marbled with fat. Most of the fat will disappear over the 10 hours it will take to smoke the chuck roast, so you want a good amount of fat in this cut of meat. The key is finding awesome marbling, vs large veins or chunks of fat within the chuck roast. Its OK to have some of the larger pieces of fat, as its hard to avoid… but look for the best cut with the best marbling. The piece I found was 2.5 lbs, but try to get a thicker cut that is in the 3″ thick range….. giving you a starting weight of 3.5 lbs or more.

Preparing the Chuck Roast for Smoking

Because this is a smaller piece of meat, we are not going to cut any fat off of it. This is subjective depending on your chuck roast, so make the call that you are most comfortable with.

Next, we are going to season the beef with a salty spicy rub that will soak into the chuck roast as we smoke it for 10 hours over indirect heat. This rub is on the spicier side, but it will mellow out over the duration of the cook. The end result is nice back end heat with each bite. If you do not care for any heat at all, then you can omit the jalapeno powder and cayenne pepper. Either way, season the chuck roast heavily on the top and bottom and less heavily on the sides.

I was looking through my recipe archives and realized I had not posted a recipe for a classic…. American BBQ Chicken. I am not sure how this happened, but I am fixing this, right now. This is not your mother’s BBQ chicken… this triple flavored BBQ chicken recipe is going to change your BBQ chicken for life! I am calling it Triple BBQ Chicken because it is infused with flavor 3 different ways. Even if you only use 2 of these 3 steps, you are going to be ahead of the game. This is how its going down….

Marinate the chicken in a cilantro orange marinade to infuse flavor deep into the chicken

Rub the chicken with an awesome balanced BBQ rub prior to grilling

Grill and Glaze the chicken with a sweet heat BBQ sauce at the end of grilling to add one more layer of flavor

If I had to choose one thing to smoke to impress company, it would probably be Smoked Beef Ribs. Nothing is more impressive when you pull them off the smoker. Large bones you can grip in your hands and thick luscious beef that is marbled with rendered fat that makes every bite a treat. I originally posted a recipe for Smoked Beef Ribs in 2016. Today we are taking it to the next level with Sriracha Smoked Beef Ribs. Choose either recipe… they are both damn good! I found this new Sriracha coating to add a little bit of spice and a little bit of salt to the flavor of the ribs. Definitely not overpowered with heat and spice. So, if you like it real hot, then add some cayenne to the beef rib rub found below. Give these monster ribs a try either way…. you’ll love em!

Steps for Perfect Sriracha Smoked Beef Ribs

The first challenge to smoking great beef ribs is finding an awesome rack of beef ribs. I have had the most success finding these at Whole Foods, here in Des Moines, Iowa. Usually the butcher will cut through the bones, making short segments of Beef Short Ribs. What you want to ask for is a full, uncut rack of Beef Plate Short Ribs. You want about one rib per person, depending on the size of the ribs. Three ribs has weighed about 5 lbs in my experience. Once you track down your beef ribs, let’s get cooking!

Beef Rib Rub

2 Tablespoons Coarse Sea Salt

2 Tablespoons Coarse Black Pepper

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder or Granulated Garlic

1 teaspoon Onion Powder

Beef Rib Mop / Spray

1/2 Cup of Apple Cider Vinegar

1.5 cups Water

Heat your smoker up to 250-275 F. I prefer 250 most of the time, only going hotter to speed up the process if needed. Expect the total smoking time to take 8-10 hours. Shooting for a sustained internal temperature of 205 F.

Trim any excess fat from the top and sides of the ribs. I do not mess with the bottom (bone side) of the ribs.

Slather your ribs with Sriracha sauce. Use several tablespoons for each side.

Season all sides of the beef ribs with the beef rib rub. You want a nice even coating, but not excessive. The Sriracha adds heat, but it also adds salt too, so don’t over do it.

Smoke for 5-6 hrs at 250 F, then start monitoring temperature. I use a few chunks of cherry and oak to start the smoke, then another chunk an hour later. I then allow the lump charcoal to provide the rest of the smoke flavor.

Start monitoring the temperature of the beef ribs and spritz the ribs every 45-60 minutes with the vinegar & water solution. Smoke until internal temperature reaches 205 F. You can pull them at 200 F, but usually the ribs have enough fat in them that 205 F allows more fat to render out.

Pull from the smoker and wrap in foil to rest for one hour.

Slice and serve as below…. here is a quick video of the Sriracha beef ribs being sliced for serving…

I have loved every reverse seared ribeye that I have grilled. I figured a reverse seared tri-tip could not be too bad… and yes… it turned out pretty damn good, so I am sharing it with you!

When picking out a good tri-tip roast, try to pick out the largest one you can find. When using the reverse sear technique, you want a nice thick steak, ideally at least 2 inches thick. This allows you to slow cook the tri-tip at 350 F for about one hour, and then sear the hell out of it for a few minutes on each side. Tri-tip is a regional cut of beef to some extent, more popular on the West coast. If you have trouble finding a good tri-tip, contact your local butcher ahead of time, or usually you can find them at Trader Joe’s, if you have one in town.

Useful Tools when Grilling a Reverse Seared Tri-Tip

How to Grill a Perfect Reverse Seared Tri-Tip

Pick out a nice large Tri-Tip, ideally over 3 lbs and 2″ thick.

Season Heavily with a Salty Peppery Rub. Let the rub marinate over night, loosely covered in the fridge. I used GGs tri-tip rub for this recipe, which I received from the Grill Masters Club. Check out my review of Grill Masters Club for more information on their services.

Setup your grill for indirect heat, at 300-350 degrees F. I use a webber kettle for my reverse seared tri-tips and ribeyes.

Place on the grill, away from the coals for about one hour, grill closed. Flip the tri-tip half way through. Monitor the internal temperature of the tri-tip steak and pull the tri-tip when it reaches 110 F.

Set the tri-tip aside and then leave the cover off the grill, allowing the coals to burn hot and wild.

Place the tri-tip steak back on the grill and sear for a few minutes on each side. You want the internal temperature to be close to 130 F for a nice medium rare steak.

Let the tri-tip rest for 10 minutes before slicing thin for serving family style or making delicious steak sandwiches.

I mentioned I used GGs Tri-Tip Rub for this Reverse Seared Tri-Tip. If you want to make your own rub, I would suggest using the same rub I use for my Reverse Seared Ribeye ……

1.5 Tablespoon Kosher Salt

1 Tablespoon Course Ground Pepper

0.5 Tablespoon Ancho Chile Powder

0.5 teaspoon Ground Cumin

You can use this rub on a lot of different meats with great results. I use it all the time on steaks and burgers and have also used it for chicken wings, legs, and thighs. Make this ahead of time and keep it in a spice jar to use as all purpose beef seasoning.

If you give this a try… let me know how it turns out in the comments section below or drop me a line on Facebook.

If you made me choose what my favorite BBQ meat, it might be St. Louis Pork Ribs. They are succulent, juicy, tender, and so versatile. You can cook them a lot of different ways to achieve different flavors and textures. Today, we are experimenting with Cajun Honey Glazed St. Louis Pork Ribs. The sweet and tangy honey glaze will compliment the heat and herbs used in the cajun rub. Hell, after trying this, I realized the honey glaze would be good on about any ribs you pull off the smoker. I challenge you to give these Cajun Honey Glazed St. Louis Pork Ribs a shot. You will not be disappointed.

If you are reading this, you probably love smoking ribs, right? So do I! However, I do not always have a lot of time on my hands, often trying to fit to much into a weekend. These hot and fast smoked pork ribs, smoked and braised in butter and bbq sauce, will allow you to fit some great tasting ribs into a tight window on a Saturday or Sunday. You can put these pork ribs on the smoker at 3:00 and serve them at 6:30 with out compromising taste or tenderness. Easy, fast, and delicious…. lets get cracking!

If you prefer watching a video, showing the whole process, check out my video below. It shows how to prep the ribs, proper amount of seasoning, etc.

Another year has passed and another Thanksgiving Turkey is upon us. Every year I typically try something a little different with the thanksgiving turkey. This year I am preparing a Brined and Buttered Smoked Thanksgiving Turkey, smothered with a mixture of fresh herbs, pepper, and BUTTER! Keeping it simple, but super tender and moist, with a ton of fresh flavor from a lot of chopped herbs. This might be my favorite Thanksgiving Turkey I have ever made. I invite you to give it a try for your family and friends…. I think you will end up looking like a hero!

My philosophy with turkey and chicken is keep it simple. Let the bird do the talking with a nice accent of flavor added from a brine, flavorful rub, or a combination of both. The 4 ingredient brine from this recipe gives it a nice light saltiness throughout the turkey meat and the herby butter provides a brightness to the meat with out over powering it. I look forward to making this again on Thanksgiving Day!

I used my Big Green Egg to smoke the turkey. You can use what ever smoker or grill you have available. You can also use an oven if needed. The most important thing is keeping the temperature at 325 F, nice and steady. If you are looking to buy an entry level smoker, the best value grill/smoker out there might be the Weber Kettle Premium 22″. It is a grill first, but can perform great as a smoker. I love it for chicken or turkey. If you are going to use a Weber Kettle, you may want to check out my post on smoking a chicken on a webber kettle. Go with all lump charcoal to give the turkey a kiss of smoke, rather than drowning the bird with smoke. My favorite lump charcoal is Fogo Premium Hardwood Charcoal. Big pieces that last a long time.

Brine Ingredients

20 Cups Warm Water

4 -6 Cups Ice (add after mixing other ingredients together)

1/2 Cup Sea Salt

1/2 Lawry’s Seasoned Salt

1.5 Cups Brown Sugar

Buttery Herby Rub Ingredients

1.5 sticks of butter – unsalted

1/4 Cup of Freshly shopped herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme is what I used)

Turkey Brining and Smoking Process

Pick out a nice turkey. I like the average 12-14 lb birds. They cook up fast and are easy to handle. If you have a real crowd… buy two!

Let it thaw out in the fridge. This will take 3 days or so.

Brine the turkey overnight. I use my largest pasta pot and my beer fridge to store the turkey overnight. If needed, use a food safe brining bag and a cooler full of ice around the bag to keep it cool overnight.

Mix the warm water and dry ingredients together, then add the salt to cool the brine before adding the turkey

Start your smoker and heat it to 325 F. I am only using lump charcoal to smoke this Thanksgiving Turkey for a light smoke flavor. If you like, add a small amount of apple or cherry when starting the cook.

Mix up the butter, herb, pepper mix. Heat the butter up if needed to make it easier to mix, but you want it thick and sticky.

Quickly rinse your turkey with cold water and then dry your Turkey. Apply the butter mix all over the outside and inside of the turkey. Use your hands to pry the skin away from the breasts and then apply the butter between the meat and the skin. I used the entire stick and a half of butter… I don’t think you can over do it.

Sprinkle the exterior with salt and pepper

Smoke the turkey until breast temperature is at 160 F and the thigh is above 165 F. Let it rest for 15 minutes and carve that turkey up! For a 12 lb bird, I have found the smoking process to take about 120-140 minutes at 325. If you vary the temperature, cooking time will change. Trust a good meat thermometer to tell you when to pull the bird.

Brined turkey, rubbed inside and out with the herby butter mix.

Smoked turkey on my big green egg. This is at the half way point, one hour into the smoke.

Over the years I have tried Asian Glazed Chicken Wings at a number of restaurants. All of them have been tasty in their own way, and have inspired my own take on this awesome snack. This asian glaze will bring a tangy heat to any grilled chicken wing and can also be used for chicken breasts, legs, thighs…. or Pork and Beef. In the next few weeks I am going to try it on grilled short ribs…. could be a winner?

Slow Cook – on the grill/smoker over indirect heat at 400 F for about 45 – 60 minutes. Turning the chicken wings every 15 min.

Finish Hot – grill over high direct heat on each side to crisp the chicken wings. If your grill is very hot, this may only take 30 sec on each side, but could take a few minutes a side if not so hot.

Glaze– coat the chicken wings with the Asian Glaze and enjoy!

The Rub

For these Asian Glazed Chicken Wings, we want our glaze to shine the most. But, we still want a nice layer of seasoning absorbed into the chicken wing, so we are going to use a complimentary rub. My Sweet Lov’n BBQ Rub has a nice balance of salt, sugar, and chile powder that provides a nice back drop for the Asian Glaze. The sugar and spice will also help develop a nice caramelized crispy skin when we finish the wings over high heat at the end of the grilling. The ingredients are below….

2 T Celery Salt

6 T Kosher Salt

12 T Brown Sugar or Turbinado Sugar

6 T Ancho Chile

1 T Black Pepper

2 T Paprika

1/2 T Onion Powder

1/2 T Garlic Powder

1/2 tea Ground Cumin

1 tea Cayenne Pepper

This rub brings a little heat and sweetness which goes along well with our sweet, hot, and tangy Asian Glaze.

The Asian Glaze

You can make this asian glaze ahead of time. It takes about 30 minutes to make, allowing some time to reduce the mixture into a nice syrupy viscosity.

Asian Glaze Ingredients

1 Tablespoon Sesame Seed Oil

2 teaspoons Freshly Grated Ginger Root

1 Large Clove Finely Chopped Black Garlic (fermented garlic – found at Trader Joes for sure). Use one clove of fresh garlic if needed.

3/8 Cub Honey

1/4 Cup Sriracha Sauce

1/4 Cup Soy Sauce

1/4 Cup Rice Vinegar

Juice of 1 Whole Lime

Juice of 1 Whole Orange

Big Pinch of Black Pepper (add last after testing for heat level)

Pinch of Red Chili Flake (add last after testing for heat level)

Asian Glaze Preparation

Add the sesame seed oil, ginger, and garlic to a small sauce pan. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Mix in all other ingredients besides black pepper and chili flake. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until it reduces down into a syrupy viscosity.

Taste, then add black pepper and red chili flake to desired spice level. I like a big pinch of each.

I love smoked and grilled chicken thighs. The rich flavor of chicken and texture of perfectly crispy skin are a winner every time. To up the game, we going to make Sausage Stuffed Chicken Thighs today. Boneless chicken thighs really lend themselves to being stuffed, as you start with a fairly thin piece of meat that can easily be wrapped around sausage, cheese, or other ingredients. I think the sausage adds a little kick to an already delicious chicken thigh. If you have not tried boneless chicken thighs before, I also recommend trying them un-stuffed… also very tasty. Lets get down to business…

Finish the thighs on the grill, turning often until the skin is nice and crispy. Usually about 10 minutes, turning every 1 minute. This time could a lot less if your grill/smoker is hot. Keep an eye on them initially.

I have wanted to try Smoked Beef Ribs on the Big Green Egg for years. A few weekends a go I checked this item off my bucket list. The main reason I waited so long was I never saw what I was looking for at the grocery store. After poking around at my local Whole Foods and showing the butcher what I was looking for, I finally hit the jack pot. They were pretty much everything I hoped for. Ask your butcher for an uncut rack of beef short ribs and you will be in business. (jump to the end for a video of the process)

Smoked Beef Ribs on the Big Green Egg – Basic Steps

They were surprisingly easy to smoke and they take a lot less time than a large beef brisket, with similar results. The simple steps are:

Heat smoker to 260 F

Trim excess fat off of ribs

Rub with the Beef Rib Rub – nice even thick coating

3 Tablespoons Salt

3 Tablespoons Coarse Grind Pepper

1 Tablespoon Ancho Chile

1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

Add cherry and oak wood before placing on the smoker. Smoke for at Total of 8 hrs. I used a water pan beneath the ribs.

Smoke for 5 hrs with out opening the smoker

Spray Ribs every 45 minutes with 3 Parts Water 1 Part Apple Cider Vinegar for the remaining 3 hours or so

Pull Ribs off when they reach 200 F

Spray with water vinegar solution and wrap with foil. Let the Smoked Beef Ribs rest for 45 minutes.

Slice and enjoy!

My rack of ribs started out at 5 lbs and they comfortably fed 4 people. They have a nice salty flavor with a subtle heat from the pepper and cayenne. Everyone really enjoyed them and they are so dramatic with the dinosaur sized bone.

Check out this video showing the process….

If you like the video, please like it on YouTube. It helps me get a little more exposure. If you have questions on the process, just send me an email or leave me a comment. I loved the way they turned out and look forward to smoking them again!

Smoked Beef Ribs on Big Green Egg

Learn how to smoke perfect Beef Ribs on the Big Green Egg or any other smoker.

Course
Dinner

Cuisine
BBQ

Prep Time30minutes

Cook Time8hours

Total Time8hours30minutes

Ingredients

5lbsBeef Plate Short Ribs - uncut

Beef Rib Rub

3tbspCoarse Salt

3tbspCoarse Grind Pepper

1tbspAncho Chile

1teaspoonCayenne Pepper

Beef Rib Spritz / Mop

1.5cupswater

0.5cupsapple cider vinegar

Instructions

Start heating up your smoker for indirect heat at 260 F. Place drip pan below the spot where your ribs will sit. Pour a pitcher of water into the drip pan.

Trim excess fat off of ribs. Leave the underside intact, do not remove the fatty membrane.

Rub with the Beef Rib Rub - nice even thick coating

Add cherry and oak wood before placing on the smoker. Smoke for at Total of approximately 8 hrs.

Smoke for 5 hrs with out opening the smoker

Spray Ribs every 45 minutes with 3 Parts Water 1 Part Apple Cider Vinegar for the remaining 3 hours or so

Pull Ribs off when they reach 200-205 F. I have actually started shooting for 205 F, to ensure the fat breaks down more.

Spray with water vinegar solution and wrap with foil. Let the Smoked Beef Ribs rest for 45 minutes.

Slice and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Heat smoker to 260 F Trim excess fat off of ribs Rub with the Beef Rib Rub - nice even thick coating 3 Tablespoons Salt 3 Tablespoons Coarse Grind Pepper 1 Tablespoon Ancho Chile 1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper Add cherry and oak wood before placing on the smoker. Smoke for at Total of 8 hrs. I used a water pan beneath the ribs. Smoke for 5 hrs with out opening the smoker Spray Ribs every 45 minutes with 3 Parts Water 1 Part Apple Cider Vinegar for the remaining 3 hours or so Pull Ribs off when they reach 200 F Spray with water vinegar solution and wrap with foil. Let the Smoked Beef Ribs rest for 45 minutes. Slice and enjoy!